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Category: Bladder C. Risks
The news items published under this category are as follows.
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Bladder C. Risks: Firefighters at increased Risk for Bladder Cancer
Enviat per : Admin a diumenge, 20 de maig de 2007 - 01:45 AM GMT
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5151 lectures
(Anaheim, CA, May 19) Firefighters are among the most prominent occupational groups at increases risk for bladder cancer. Firefighters and other individuals at risk for bladder cancer are being tested for bladder cancer with the NMP22® BladderChek® Test, an easy to use CLIA waived, point-of-care urine test.
Studies have shown that people who have environmental and occupational exposure to certain chemicals, burning material, and soot have a higher risk for bladder cancer. Prolonged exposure to benzene compounds found in burning debris is associated with bladder cancer risk.
Screening of firefighters with the NMP22 BladderChek Test is ongoing and has occurred in a number of communities throughout the country. Legislation providing annual screening for firefighters is being considered in Rhode Island, Florida, New York and Massachusetts.
Matritech Inc. said today that the City of San Francisco is using one of its products to screen firefighters for bladder cancer and the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation is Scheduled to release information about the bladder screening program with the NMP22 BladderChek Test.
San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation Spearheads Campaign Calling for Action to Address Firefighters Increased Risk for Cancer
Bladder Cancer Screening is the First Program Underway
San Francisco, CA (April 24, 2007) – With hundreds of pairs of empty firefighter’s boots, helmets, and tri-folded American flags lining the steps of San Francisco’s city hall as a backdrop, about 300 active and retired firefighters honoured their fallen members who lost their lives to cancer and called for action to increase awareness of the silent death of firefighters from job related cancers.
The firefighters gathered to announce the establishment of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation, a non-profit organization that is leading a campaign to bring awareness to the increased risk that firefighters have of getting cancer. The Foundation is dedicated to educating San Francisco firefighters, whether active or retired, about the prevention and early detection of cancer. Firefighters Union Local 798 provided a $100.000 contribution to the Foundation.
The founder and Chairman of the Board of the Foundation, Captain Tony Stefani a retired San Francisco firefighter and cancer survivor said,” We don’t have an organization dedicated to solving the increased incidence of cancer and the impact it’s taking on the lives of our retired firefighters, and those still on the job. one of our immediate goals is early detection and making sure that those who are diagnosid with cancer get the quality care and the support they have earned through their service to their community.”
Captain (Ret.) Stefani added,”In a partnership with UCSF Medical Center and funding from the city, the SFFD has begun providing free bladder cancer screening to all the current and retired firefighters. It’s a voluntary program at this time, but we’ve already had about 1.000 people lining up to take the NMP22 BladderChek urine test – and we’re just beginning. We hope that we can build on the success of this program and launch screening programs for other cancers for which we are at-risk.”
Tom O’Conner, President of the Foundation and a Lieutenant in the SFFD said,” As firefighters we risk our lives each day as part of our job. Now there is research that reports we have a higher risk than most people to get cancer. We need to know the potential health hazards of simply reporting for duty so we can be able to do something about it.”
Major Gavin Newsome stood with the firefighters and spoke of the commitment by his administration to provide the funding for bladder cancer screening for all firefighters and retirees. The Mayor also recognized the efforts of everyone involved.
The bladder cancer screening program is the result of the efforts of Captain (Ret.) Stefani, Dr. Marshall Stoller, professor and Vice Chairman, Department of Urology, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine and urologist at the UCSF Medical Center and his colleague Dr. Kirsten Greene. For the last year and a half, they worked with the SFFD administration with the approval of Chief Heyes-White, Deputy Chief Gary Massetani directs the bladder cancer screening program for the SFFD and secured city funding for the project.
Dr. Stoller and Dr. Greene are retriving the bladder cancer screening results from the NMP22 BladderChek Test and providing follow-up and further evaluation for any firefighter who may have a positive test result. As part of a long-term study, they have also administred cancer questionnaires to the firefighters to determine the incidence of other job related cancers among the San Francisco firefighters. More than 1.000 questionnaires have been completed by those an active duty and retirees.
Dr. Stoller explained,” We began screening for bladder cancer because it was apparent that there were a number of our local firefighters diagnosed with the disease – I have treated many of them. Firefighters are likely at a higher risk for bladder cancer than most people. And the tests that we could use in our initial screening, a dipstick test to assess for microscopic blood in the urine and the NMP22 test for bladder cancer are easy and inexpensive. The NMP22 test for bladder cancer is an urine test and results are available on the spot.”
Dr. Green added,” Our long term goal is to evaluate how many of our firefighters are getting cancer and what type of cancer. The research is important to assess the health hazards these people face in the line of duty, so we can do more to eliminate their risk.”
A poignant moment drivinghome the message for the firefighters assembled, was the remembrance of their comrade, Larry Murray who dies of bladder cancer. He was the driver of Engine 3 the busiest engine company in the city. Larry stood at the pump panel many hours throughout his career inhaling diesel furnes while pumping water to firefighters. one of the pairs of empty boots was for Larry who didn’t die a heroic death in a fire, but silently – and as a hero dedicated to saving others.
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Bladder C. Risks: Screening High Risk Patients for Bladder Cancer is Cost-effective
Enviat per : Admin a dimarts, 23 de maig de 2006 - 06:15 PM GMT
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5021 lectures
Yair Lotan, M.D., urologist at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, presented new data regarding the cost-effectiveness and the lives saced from screening versus not screening for bladder cancer. This study was presented during a May 22 Bladder Cancer Detection and Screening podium presentation at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association held in Atlanta. Dr. Lotan and his colleagues also looked at the factors that limit the effectiveness of cancer screening, including survival benefit, disease prevalence, screening efficacy and costs.
The Marcov decision analysis model was created to estimate cumulative cancer-related costs and efficacy of screening (versus not screening) a high risk population for bladder cancer using a urine-based tumor marker (such as the NMP22 Bladder Chek Test) over a five-year period. High riask was designated as over 50 years of age with heavy smoking history or significantl occupational exposure to toxins and dyes.
"While the goal of cancer screening is to detect cancer early and save lives, it must be reasonably cost-effective if it is to be instituted widely," said Dr. Lotan. The researchers at the University of Texas developed a bladder cancer screening model that projected a gain of three life years and $101.000 saved per 1000 people screened based on a poputation with 4% incidence of bladder cancer. Researchers noted that adjusting for other causes of mortality did not vary the results significantly, and screening versus not screening is more cost-effective as long as the cancer incidence is greater than 1,6%.
Nationally, bladder cancer has the highest cost per patient of all cancers from diagnosis to death. This cancer has more than 63.000 new cases a year and is the 5th most common cancer among men and women in the United States. This year alone in the U.S. it's estimated that bladder cancer will cost $4 billion in direct costs.
"The best possibility for reducing bladder cancer mortality is early detection," said Dr. Lotan. " one out of four bladder malignancies are currently diagnosed at an advanced stage." Bladder tumors detected early at a non muscle invasive stage are very treatment, and the five-year survival rate is 95%. However once the tumors become more advanced the survival rate drops steadily from 50% to 10%.
This study goes beyond analyzing the cost of cancer detected. This study is about the cost per life saved and defines how effective a urine marker needs to be perform as a screening tool. once detected, bladder cancer has one of the highest rates of recurrence of all cancers. "From a surveillance standpoint, it may be advantageous to monitor bladder cancer using a cost-effective yet highly sensitive urine marker test," said Dr. Lotan. " With the FDA approval of the NMP22 Test for diagnosing high risk patients, the healthcare community has an initial test that can be assessed for efficacy in screening."
Compared to breast, prostate, and cervical cancer screening, bladder cancer screening is in its infancy. Dr. Lotan hopes this model will help healthcare professionals identify at risk populations that would benefit from bladder cancer Screening.
For more information contact Dr. Yair Lotan. At AUA call: 317-730-5349 or following AUA, Depatment of Urology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd. J8.112, Dallas, Texas 75390-9110, Ph: 214-648-0389/ Fax: 214-648-8786/ email: yair.lotan@Utsouthwestern.edu
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Bladder C. Risks: A Patients Perspective: At Risk for Bladder Cancer
Enviat per : Admin a dimarts, 04 de octubre de 2005 - 05:42 PM GMT
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2261 lectures
NEWS BRIEF:
Matritech is supporting bladder cancer awareness efforts by endorsing the patient information and advocacy work of the Bladder Cancer Web Café, a website that can be found at www.blcwebcafe.org . Behind this website is a compelling story of three sisters and the creation of an information resource that has become the number one bladder cancer site for patients and their families. The following “patient perspective” underscores the importance of helping men and women recognize the key risk factors and symptoms for bladder cancer: smoking, exposure to smoke and carcinogens, occupational exposure to chemicals and dyes, and the telltale sign of blood in the urine. These should not be ignored. There is now a simple test to detect this cancer early. Between 20 and 25% of bladder cancers are first diagnosed after they have reached the invasive stage, making them much harder to treat successfully. A Patient’s Perspective: At Risk for Bladder Cancer Two Sisters Tell Their Story of Cancer and Survival Two sisters, one with bladder cancer, one with breast cancer, were mourning the passing of a third sister who had just succumbed to breast cancer. This story began six years ago and continues today. The younger sister, in an effort to help her family, searched for whatever information she could find on bladder cancer. She encountered a void of information. From that void came the birth of a website called the Bladder Cancer Web Café. “We are so accustomed to surfing the World Wide Web when we need information, especially about an unknown medical problem,” remembers Wendy Sheridan, creator and webmaster of the Bladder Cancer Web Café ( www.blcwebcafe.org ). Additional bladder cancer patient stories can be found on this site under “awareness” or in “trench talk.” To schedule a follow-up interview with Wendy Sheridan or Maureen Worth
email Wendy at wendy@blcwebcafe.org ,
or contact Karen Roberts, 317-730-5349 or
email her at bcancernews@att.net . This story “Patient perspectives: At risk for bladder cancer” is the latest in a series of bladder cancer awareness articles, produced by Matritech and the Bladder Cancer Web Café. Matritech is the developer and manufacturer of the FDA approved NMP22® BladderChek® Test which is used to detect bladder cancer and monitor patients with bladder cancer. This non-invasive test is performed in the physician office by the physician or staff and requires just a few drops of urine placed on a disposable test cartridge. The BladderChek test provides results in a short period of time, with results available during the patient visit. If bladder cancer is present, elevated levels of the nuclear matrix protein NMP22 can be detected by this test. For more information about Matritech and the NMP22® BladderChek® Test, visit www.matritech.com . Bladder Cancer Facts: - Over 63,000 new cases per year
- 4 times higher incidence in men than women
- Women have a higher mortality rate because they are generally diagnosed in later stages of the disease
- 4th leading cause of cancer in men Firefighters are particularly “at-risk” --- 2 times greater incidence than the general population
- Highest rate of recurrence of any cancer, including skin cancer. 50-85% recurrence within 6-12 months.
- According to the National Cancer Institute, the prevalence of bladder cancer in the U.S. has surpassed that of lung cancer and:
- Among U.S. males, there are almost as many cases annually as colon cancer
- Most common in men over 65 years
- 2nd most common urologic malignancy
- 5th most common cancer in the United States
- More than 13,000 deaths per year
Additional Bladder Cancer facts found at www.blcwebcafe.org . Several 2001 medical studies from the University of Southern California medical school report women smokers may face a higher bladder cancer risk. Findings indicated that when women smoked at comparably high levels the risk for bladder cancer among women was 30 to 50% higher than for men. Another USC study reported permanent hair dye applied at least once a month for 15 years or more increased bladder cancer risk 3.3-fold.
A University of Iowa study examined nitrate levels in drinking water. Researchers examined nearly 22,000 Iowa women ages 55 to 69 consuming the same water over a 10-year period. They found that the bladder cancer risk rose as the nitrate levels increased in the drinking water. Even women who drank tap water with nitrates below the maximum level of 10 mg/L (EPA standard) were three times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who consumed lower levels of nitrates. Smoking has been well documented by the American Cancer Society as a risk factor for bladder cancer. Women now represent 39% of smoking-related deaths in the United States, and bladder cancer is now the 5th most prevalent cancer in this country. This year more than 63,000 Americans will be diagnosed with bladder cancer, and more than 13.000 will die from it. If caught early, the five-year survival rate can exceed 90% (five-year survival rates can be less than 10% if bladder cancer is detected at an advanced stage.). Media contact: Karen Roberts
Bladder cancer Awareness
317-730-5349
email: bcancernews@att.net
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